


Another Day of Sun

by Golden_Autumn



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Despair, F/M, Pianist!Shuuichi, Police Officer!Kaede, mentions of others in the background
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 17:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12709566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golden_Autumn/pseuds/Golden_Autumn
Summary: Saihara Shuuichi is a jazz pianist, working nights at a club in the streets of Sangenjaya. Akamatsu Kaede is a bright, talented police officer.Talent Swap / AU





	Another Day of Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this a while back but it came back to me recently. Fluff piece to counter my last work.

"You're kidding me." 

The school bag on his shoulder suddenly feels heavier. His boss stands on the opposite of the bar counter when Saihara had walked into the club he currently works at. He's known his boss since high school, agreeing to work for him at his club while he studies for his undergrad, but his boss was asking him the impossible.

"When have I  _ever_ kid-" 

"No." Shuuichi says flatly. Kokichi slumps over the bar counter with his head down. The dim lights of the empty club illuminates his boss' short, wavy purple hair while hiding his face but Shuuichi can tell the short boy is smiling.  

"Saihara-chaaaan~" His boss whines. Kokichi looks up at him with starry eyes. "Pleeeease, it's a favor. I'll even let you have an extra night off."

Shuuichi drops the bag on the counter of the bar next to his boss' head while rolling his eyes. "Ask someone else. What about Kiibo?" 

Kokichi scoffs. "That boy plays like a robot with barely any feelings into it but you-"

"Do not play classical music." Shuuichi finishes. He begins to take out his books from his bag. Kokichi starts tapping his fingers on the counter as a sign of annoyance. 

"Jazz, classical, what's the difference?" He replies with a huff, "Piano is piano. And don't forget I sign your paychecks." 

"You don't pay much to begin with." Shuuichi says as a matter-of-fact. Kokichi whimpers and Shuuichi knows he's going to send a wave of crocodile tears if he doesn't accept his request. He sighs in resignation before turning to Kokichi. "What's with the sudden change? You had no problems with jazz music before."

His boss responds with a hum, pretending to think deeply about his question.  

"Just because?" he says cheekily. Shuuichi stops and stares at him blankly.

He repeats his previous statement, "You're kidding me."

Kokichi stands and places his arms behind his head with a grin. "Or maybe, I just want to hear you play classical music Saihara-chan! I'll be sending over the music sheets. This will be good for the club, you'll see!"

He turns and waves his hands in the air as a good-bye while Shuuichi stares at him in disbelief as his boss disappears in the backroom. He looks over at his stack of books, the book on top labels  _Experiencing Music: A Composer's Notes_ and thinks he really should get a new job. 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"This is boooooooring." Kaede groans, placing her head on the steering wheel. Her current assignment partner, Maki rubs at her temples. They had been sitting in the same car for eight hours approximately in the streets of Sangenjaya, currently day two of the stakeout. Cycles of coffee cups scatter around the floor, they had not eaten for a while, and most importantly, Maki insists no tunes. 

"Do you not know what a stakeout is? I'm sure you've been on longer stakeouts." 

"Yeah but not in a car with no music." Kaede sighs before throwing her arms in the air. 

"I told you," the red-eyed girl seethes. "They'll hear it and catch us. How are you our squad leader with that attitude?"

Kaede sticks out her tongue at her before placing her head back onto the steering wheel. "I think it's  _more_ unusual that two girls sitting in an unmarked car is not listening to some music." 

She tilts her head sideways to look at her partner. 

"Sing me a song Harumaki." Maki snorts. Even though they trained at the academy together, she's still not used to Kaede's behavior. Talented, yes but her odd quirks and optimism towards life would be considered out of place as a police officer.  

"Maybe you should get out of the car and get some food, clearly the warm air is getting to your head if you think I'll sing you a song." Maki says. She adds another note, "Also, don't call me that."

Kaede disregards her last statement and considers her request before opening the car door and placing her leg outside onto the street. She pauses and turns to Maki.  

"Do you want anything?" 

"More coffee." 

"Yes ma'am."

"Don't call me that too." 

And with that, Kaede sees a coffee shop in the distance and walks. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Shuuichi groans. It's been hours since he looks over the music sheets that Ouma sent him. After finishing his assignments at the club, his boss notifies that he has the next few days off to learn while Kiibo fills in for him. He sits in an empty coffee shop with only the owner present behind the counter. The owner laughs, "You're going to drive away my customers if you keep groaning like that."

"You don't have any in the first place Momota-kun. I'm your only customer." Shuuichi says before pulling out his laptop. He queues up some classical music as he taps his pencil on his notepad. 

"I get plenty of customers!" Kaito replies loudly as he slams his palm on the counter. "You're just not around to see it, you know." 

"Yeah, yeah.." Shuuichi says, not listening to his best friend. The thing he learned about classical is that they're complete opposite of jazz. Jazz is more chaotic, free. He gets lost in himself when he plays jazz but classical is different. It's structured, it's simple, follow the music sheet and it should be easy enough for Shuuichi to do.

Except Shuuichi completely sucks at it. The melody of  _Piano Sonata No.16_ by Mozart starts playing from his laptop and Shuuichi records the crescendos on the music sheet. Kaito perks up at the song. 

"Hey, this is nice. Fits well with the shop don't you think Shuuichi?"

Shuuichi laughs.

"I don't think classy and you go together Momota-kun." 

"Maaan, you're being rude Shuuichi. I can be classy when I want to be." Kaito pouts. He walks over to Shuuichi and takes his coffee cup away from him. "Why don't you try playing it more instead of studying it like a bookworm? You don't do that with jazz." 

Shuuichi ponders before scribbling something on the sheet. "Classical... is different. It feels... it's more for the geniuses."

"You're pretty talented yourself Shuuichi, don't sell yourself short." Kaito responds while he washes the cup in the sink. A recording of Shuuichi's Piano Sonata No.16 then starts playing as a comparison and Kaito pauses. Shuuichi grimaces at the comparison. He can hear the improv and the upbeat parts added onto the classical piece. 

"That's better than the original!" Kaito says in an overly chipper tone. Shuuichi unconsciously taps his fingers on the wooden table as if he's imagining the piano in front of him. He pauses once he hears the bell over the shop entrance rings and looks up from his laptop to see a brightly haired woman with a light pink jacket covering her white shirt and blue jeans cautiously entering the shop.   

"Oh! I'm sorry, is this place closed?" She looks in with her head peering through the slightly opened door. Kaito rushes over and opens the door wide for her with a bright smile.

"No, no not at all! Welcome to Kaito's Spaceship Café." She laughs and gives him a warm smile. Kaito turns around to face his friend and exclaims while pointing at Kaede, "See! See, I told you I get customers!"

Her eye catches the dark haired guy in the corner cowering behind his laptop. Shuuichi tries to turn off the song but stumbles over his music sheets and notepad to get to his mouse. 

"That's an interesting cover." She says, tilting her head over Kaito's shoulders. "Who's it by?" 

Alarmed, Shuuichi closes his laptop as a response before the song could continue playing. He gulps and before he can stammer out a response, Kaito turns around to beam at the blonde and exclaims, "it's actually him playing! Can you believe it?" 

She lets out a chuckle. "Well, it's amazing. I've never heard that version before." 

Shuuichi bites the inside of his cheek before he has the courage to ask, "...You...You know Mozart?" 

"Mhm." Kaede responds. She clasps her hands together, "Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, I love listening to them! You're very talented." 

"Ah..." He responds weakly. He's not used to praise. As a jazz pianist, the spotlight is often on the singer. Shuuichi just plays in the dark, watching the shadows of people dancing to the music. Kaito laughs at his friend before turning to Kaede,

"SO, may I take your order?" 

Kaede returns her attention to the coffee shop owner. "Yes please! A couple of croissants and a cup of coffee with two sugars thank you!" 

"Coming right up!" Kaito rushes to the backroom, preparing the croissants and grabbing some coffee beans. "Have a seat, it'll be just a few minutes."

Shuuichi was in the midst of putting away his books and music sheets when he hears a chair creek in front of him. He didn't expect her to take a seat in front of him with her chin lying on the palm of her hands and a bright smile plastered her face. 

"So," she starts off. She looks down at the scattered music sheets and notepad before turning to face Shuuichi. "What else can you play? Moonlight sonata? Prelude?" 

"I," Shuuichi stammers out, gulps, and tries speaking, "I don't..er play classical music. I-I'm a jazz pianist."

Her smile falters a bit and Shuuichi almost beats himself over it.  _She said she loves classical!_

"Jazz, huh? I've never listened to jazz before," She says, thinking. Then, her smile comes back brighter and wider than before. "I would love to hear it! Do you perform around here?" 

He averts his eyes away from her. "Y-Yeah, at a club named DICE just down the street. But I'm.. I'm trying to learn classical s-so I-I won't be performing until next Thursday."

"I'm sure you can do it!" 

Shuuichi chokes on air before turning to look at her. 

"Wh- I don't," He takes in a breath. "How do you know? We don't know each other." 

Kaede holds back a laugh. He's an interesting guy. "You seem capable by improvising a song from before like that."

She points at his scattered notes.

"You're working hard too. Just keep trying, your efforts will show results!"

She pumps her arms up before pausing. "I don't think we introduce each other have we?" 

Shuuichi shakes his head no. 

"Well, I'm Akamatsu Kaede. Nice to meet you!"  

Her smile is damn infectious. 

"It's... It's n-nice to meet you," He replies. Shuuichi can feel the corner of his mouth go upwards before he clears his throat, "Er, I'm Saihara Shuuichi." 

"And I'm Momota Kaito!" A voice was heard from the backroom. Their heads turn to the voice. "Don't mind me! I'm almost done Akamatsu-san!" 

Kaede turns back to Shuuichi. "I hope I'm not bothering you. I love piano music to the point where my friends call me a piano fan freak but," 

She lets out a wistful sigh and rambles on, "I wish I could play the piano. Unfortunately, my talent lies in handcuffing guys." 

She salutes with two of her fingers. "I'm a police officer from unit thirteen at your service."

Shuuichi shakes her head as a reply to her previous statement. "N-No, you're.. not bothering me at all. Officer... that's amazing." 

He pauses. 

"You...You're quite an open person, officer." He remarks. He scratches the back of his head, "Erm... should you be this friendly to a stranger?" 

She ponders, thinking of an answer. "You don't seem like a bad guy."

Her eyes then narrow at him.

"Are you a bad guy?" 

Shuuichi brings his hands upwards while shaking his head no. "I-I'm not, I-I swear!"

Kaede snorts out a laugh. "I believe you, don't worry. I trust my gut."

"Sorry for the wait!" Kaito suddenly appears with a bag of croissants and a hot cup of coffee. "Croissants and a cup of coffee with two sugars!"

Kaede stands and takes the order away from the spiky purple haired man before handing over the money. Kaede bows at the two. "Thank you! You two have a great day. Maybe I'll see you guys again," She waves goodbye at them before stepping out of the store.

"She seems cute, huh?" Kaito grins at his friend. Shuuichi breathes out and decides not to answer his friend. He hadn't noticed his heart has been racing the entire time. He starts putting away his books as a distraction.

"That was nerve-wracking." Shuuichi mutters under his breath. He has never been good with dealing with people. Music is easy. He plays behind a grand piano, his face often hidden away while the eyes are on the jazz singer. When he plays, he feels it's just him and the melody—away from the people, from the audience. After collecting all of his sheets and books, he pauses at the last item on the table.

He stares at his notepad. 

_'Don't give up!'_

was written out cleanly, different from his handwriting. He now has the sudden urge to go home and play Mozart once more. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

On the way back to the unmarked car and her partner, Kaede was humming the improvised melody from the coffee shop earlier. She stops the tune once she greets back at her partner with a cup of coffee and a croissant. Maki takes a bite at the croissant before commenting, "You're in a happy mood." 

"I'm  _always_ in a happy mood." She says with a lilt to her voice. While waiting once more on their stakeout, she thinks back at the flustered jazz pianist. _DICE, huh._

She keeps in mind to leave the following Thursday free. 


End file.
